


Into Fire

by reindeergames19



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Khan is hot change my mind, Orginal Female Romulan Character, badass alien women in postions of power
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:49:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24013117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reindeergames19/pseuds/reindeergames19
Summary: Captain Rhiana Sullivan is one of Starfleet's best and brightest, but what happens when a certain revenge seeking terrorist decides to turn her world upside down by exposing everything she has fought so hard to hide?
Relationships: John Harrison/Original Female Character(s), Khan Noonien Singh | John Harrison/Original Female Character(s), Khan Noonien Singh/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This is actually a suuuuuuper old story that I had posted on FF.Net and am just now getting around to posting here. I love going back to my old stuff, cause it's cool to see how my writing has evolved since I was a little sophomore in college. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions!  
> xoxo,  
> RG19

_Blood._   
_All she could see was blood._   
_She was surrounded by it, covered in it. Her head shot up when she heard a fierce yell to her immediate right. She looked over to see her father grappling with three shadowy figures who appeared to be much stronger and were easily overtaking him. Her mother. She wanted her mother, but she had no clue where she was. She looked around frantically until she spotted a still figure lying not two feet behind her. She crawled towards the immobile woman hesitantly._   
_“Mama?” She whispered as she placed a blood covered hand against the woman’s cheek, but she did not move. “Mama, you have to wake up!” The girl insisted. “Daddy’s in trouble!” Just then, she heard a choked scream coming from behind her and she whipped around to see her father sinking to the floor, a large dagger with a curved handle protruding from his throat, his lifeblood flowing from the fatal wound._   
_She screamed._

* * *

  
Ana Sullivan shot bolt upright as she awoke screaming from yet another nightmare, her sweat soaked emerald green sheets tangled around her legs. She pushed herself back against the headboard of her bed and brought her knees to her chest and rested her head on them them as she tried to steady her erratic breathing. After about five minutes of meditative breathing exercise her mother had taught her years ago, she was able to regain a bit of her composure and moved to sit on the edge of her bed. Her toes curled in the plush carpet beneath her feet as she ran a shaking hand through her fiery red curls, tucking a few wayward strands behind her pointed ears. She was about to get up and begin the day, when the communicator on her bedside table shrilled loudly, making her jump. Ana swore under her breath as she leaned across the bed and grabbed the noisy object before flipping it open.  
“Sullivan.” She stated simply.  
“This is Admiral Alexander Marcus.” The deep voice responded succinctly.  
“Admiral Marcus.” Ana sat up straighter. “What can I do for you?”  
“I need you to do me a favor.” He said. “Call it a little side job.”  
“Of course, Admiral.” She replied. “How can I help?”  
“Word is you used to be one of the best and brightest in weapons development while you were a cadet before you changed your focus to command. Is this true?” He questioned. Ana was so flustered by the odd questions he was asking that it took her a moment to formulate a coherent answer.  
“I suppose so,” she responded, “but becoming the captain of my own starship was always my goal.”  
“Like father like daughter.” He chuckled hoarsely, the sound making Ana cringe for some unknown reason. She never much cared for the Admiral, even though she’d only meet him once or twice. There was something about him that always rubbed her the wrong way. “Your father was a good man as well as a great Captain. He would have been proud of you.”  
“Thank you, sir.” She said. “But I’m still rather confused as to why my knowledge of weapons development would be useful to you in any way.”  
“Straight to the point I see.” He paused for a moment. “Well, I can’t let you in on the full secret now, but to make a long story short, Starfleet has put me in charge of a new weapons development section, and I’ve been looking around for any bright young minds who would be willing to contribute to the cause and you were top of the list, Sullivan.”  
“Sir, I’m not exactly up to date on the latest weapons tech, and even if I was, what kind of weapons--” But she was cut short when he spoke over her.  
“That will all be explained in due time.” He stated simply. “You are to report to the Kelvin Memorial Archive this afternoon for your briefing.”  
“The Archive?” She questioned. “Why th--”  
“Twelve o’clock sharp. Don’t be late.” The comm went dead. Ana stared at the communicator for a moment, still trying to process what was probably one of the oddest conversations of her life. She shrugged her shoulders and sighed as she rose stood and tossed the communicator on her bed before making her way to the huge floor to ceiling window in her bedroom. She opened the curtains and stared out her thirty story bedroom window at the glittering city that lay before her. London was a perfect balance of both the old and the new and Ana was quite proud to call the ancient city home. Her eyes scanned the city until they fell on the barely visible Archive about ten blocks from her flat. Her brows furrowed as she shook her head before she turned and walked towards her bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

* * *

Ana straightened her grey uniform as she exited the cab and approached the shining glass doors of the Kelvin Memorial Archive. She subconsciously reached up and checked to make sure that her hair covered the distinctive pointed tips of her ears as she walked. Being half Romulan wasn’t exactly easy to explain to most people who had been raised with a fear bordering on hate of the violent race that had always had an uneasy truce with the Federation. The time-traveling Romulan’s which had almost destroyed Earth over a year ago didn’t exactly help to improve the image of the Vulcan-like race. So, to avoid suspicion, as well as numerous dirty looks, Ana tried to keep her ears as inconspicuous as possible. She checked her hair one last time before she approached the uniformed guard standing to the right of the glass and steel door.  
“I had orders to report here, direct from Admiral Marcus in San Francisco.” She raised her chin as the guard looked her over.  
“Name?” He asked.  
“Captain Rhiana Sullivan.” She answered. The guard removed a small PADD from the utility belt at his hips and pulled her information up. After a moment, he raised his head to look at her.  
“Right this way, Captain Sullivan.” He said as he stepped aside and opened the door for her, but before she could enter the ground shook and she was suddenly thrown back but an explosive force. She landed about twenty feet from the door--or where the door used to be. Ana’s vision went dark for a moment, but came back slowly, black spots dancing across her vision. Her ears rang as she struggled to push herself onto her elbow so that she could get her bearings straight. She couldn’t believe what she saw. The street in from of the Archive had been turned into a giant crater, filled with wreckage and debris as well as unconscious, and most likely lifeless, bodies. She turned to look at what used to be the Kelvin Memorial Archive, but what was now a blown out shell of a building. Her vision began to grow foggy again and she reached up to check her head for injuries. She felt along her scalp and through her hair, which had come undone and fallen around her shoulders from the force of the blast, until she found a shallow gash near her temple and winced. That’s when she sensed it. Someone was staring at her, their gaze like a white hot brand. She turned her head to search out the culprit and her eyes fell on a man dressed entirely in black, standing not twenty-five feet from her. His pitch black hair was slicked straight back and his haunting blue eyes met her gaze. Ana’s eyes widened as the dark stranger’s lips curved into a slight smile before he turned and disappeared into the frantic crowd of people running towards the bomb sight. Her vision swam before she slumped onto her back, her vision going black.


	2. Chapter 2

Ana came to slowly, her vision blurring and her head buzzing. She was in a sitting position, yet it felt as if she was strapped down for she could only move her arms. It took her a moment to remember what had happened and why she had such a pounding headache, then it all came rushing back to her. The explosion. She had gone to the archive and their had been some sort of explosion. She remembered being propelled backward by the blast and she remembered seeing a man. An extremely handsome man dressed all in black, with hair like a ravens wing and cerulean eyes that locked with hers and appeared to stare into her very soul. Then the man with the piercing blue gaze did something entirely unexpected: He smiled at her. Yet it wasn’t a smile filled with good humor and mirth, but one the sparked cold fear deep within her. Before she could even react to the feelings the dark stranger was evoking, he turned and disappeared into the surging crowd. That was as much as Ana remembered before blacking out. But now she was awake, yet she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes open, and she had no idea where she was.  
“Good, you’re awake.” A deep voice stated directly beside her. Ana’s eyes shot open and she looked to her left, yet she had a hard time believing what she saw. The dark stranger sat calmly beside her, controlling what appeared to be a small jump ship with ease. Jump ship? What the hell were they doing in a jump ship, she thought to herself. Better yet, what was she doing in a jump ship with him.   
“Who the bloody hell are you?” She rasped, still too shocked to do anything but stare.  
“Who I am is none of your concern--” his gaze darted briefly to the epaulettes signifying her rank on the shoulders of her singed uniform, “Captain? Impressive.” As he spoke, she struggled against the safety straps criss-crossed on her chest, but she was still too weak to do any real damage. “It is no use.” The stranger said, his gaze straight ahead as he controlled the ship. “The straps are locked in place until I release them, and they are humanly impossible to tear through.” He turned his gaze on her then, his blue eyes boring into her. “Though you are not entirely human, are you?” Ana’s eyes widened and her hands immediately flew to her head to make sure her ears were covered by her hair. He smiled slightly at her slip up and she lowered her hands to rest in her lap before sitting straighter and lifting her chin.  
“What I am is none of your concern.” She responded, watching from the corner of her eye as his slight smile disappeared. “Now, I don’t know who you are or why you found if necessary to save me from the wreckage of the blast, but if you would kindly land and let me off this bloody ship I would be most thankful.” She stated succinctly, her accent more pronounced than usual.  
“Not just yet, Captain.” He responded sharply. “You still have not answered my question.” He turned the jump ship sharply, causing and unprepared Ana to slam painfully into the side. “Not just anyone could survive a blast like that at such close range. Now, I’m only going to ask once more,” he paused for a moment before turing his head to look at her yet again. “What. Are. You.” Something in the way he spoke, the way his deep, cultured voice washed over her caused Ana to experience a sense of instinctive fear that she hadn’t felt since she was a child. But, she would not give the man beside her the satisfaction of thinking that he frightened her, so when she turned her head to look at him, her face was a mask of calm and she stared him straight in the eye.  
“I’m half-Romulan.” She explained as she moved her hair aside so that he could see her pointed ears. He stared at her for a moment, and it wasn’t until then that Ana realized that the ship was stationary. She was about to say something when all of the sudden she heard a deep, rumbling sound coming from the man beside her, and it took her a moment to realize that he was laughing. Her brows furrowed in confusion.  
“How marvelous.” He remarked. “A member of one of the most feared species in the galaxy, enemies of the Federation, is an elite Starfleet captain.” He chuckled again darkly. “Tell me, is Starfleet aware of your questionable heritage?”  
“Starfleet is well aware, not that it’s any of your business.” She scowled at him, her head pounding from the untended wound on her temple.   
“Fascinating.” He remarked, more to himself than to her. “I wish I had more time to study you, Captain.”  
“Study me?” She stared at him in wide eyed confusion. “Who the hell do you thing you are?” She demanded.  
“I am no one.” He replied, as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. “Only a ghost.” Ana opened her mouth to argue, when she felt the small pinch of a hypospray on her neck before the world went dark yet again.

* * *

  
Ana was woken by an incessant beeping. She groaned and sat up slowly only to realize that she was lying in her own bed in naught but her underwear. How that hell had she gotten here? One minute she was the unwilling passenger of some crazed dark haired stranger, and now she was in her bed in her flat.   
“Maybe it was a dream.” She muttered to herself as she reached a hand up to smooth her tangled hair away from her face, but she winced when she hit the deep gash on the side of her head. She froze. It was no dream. The bombing, the jump ship, the man with the blue eyes and a voice like midnight. Her eyes darted around her room to see if he was there, but she was alone. Her thoughts were interrupted by the beeping that had woken her and she turned to see her communicator flashing on her bedside table. She quickly scooped it up and flipped in open.  
“Sullivan.” She stated hoarsely.  
“Christ, Ana.” The familiar voice of her first officer and friend Commander Connor Bryant responded. “You sound like absolute shit.”   
“You have no idea.” She muttered.  
“Ana, something has happened.” The voice grew serious, causing Ana to sit up straighter.  
“What is it, Connor?” She questioned, concern in her voice.  
“The Kelvin Memorial Archive was destroyed by a bomb almost two hours ago.” He said solemnly. “Did you not hear it? Your flat is just a few blocks away.”  
“I--” she began, intending to tell him the whole story, but she stopped herself, realizing that she would have a hard time explaining why she did not remain at the blast site, “I had a late night and I was catching up on my sleep.”  
“And you slept through an explosion?”   
“I may have taken a couple sleeping pills.” She added, waiting to see if Connor bought it.  
“Well, regardless of whether you slept through it or not, we’ve been ordered to Starfleet Headquarters for an emergency command meeting ASAP.” He reported. “I’m already in San Fran as you know, but I sent a shuttle to come and fetch you and it should be there within the next 20 minutes. I’ll let Admiral Marcus know you’ll be running a little late.”  
“Thanks, Connor” She couldn’t help but crack a smile at her first officers efficiency. “I’ll see you soon.”


	3. Chapter 3

Ana hastily thanked the pilot of the shuttle before exiting the craft and descending the stairs. The second her feet hit the ground of the shuttle hanger, she was running full tilt towards the Daystrom Institute where the command meeting was most likely already underway. She exited the hanger and immediately noticed the immense crowd of people, both civilians and Starfleet personnel, that were running and/or looking up at the tall building in which the Institute was located. Ana followed their gazes and gasped at what she saw. Towards the top of the building, there was a gaping hole where windows should have been and a handful of emergency shuttles were attempting to put out the small blazes that spanned the entirety of the floor. It took Ana a moment to drag her gaze from the horrific sight before she was running yet again, pushing past the stationary onlookers and dodging the emergency crews and medical staff that were running back and forth. When she finally was able to make it into the building, she bolted into the nearest turbolift right as the doors began to hiss shut. She attempted to hide her anxiety, but her body betrayed her with the uncontrollable tapping of her foot as she waited for the turbolift to reach its destination. When the lift finally reached the proper floor, Ana had exited and was striding determinedly down the dimly lit hallway before the doors of the lift had even fully opened. She was again forced to dodge both bloodied medical staff and armed to the teeth security teams before she finally reached the Starfleet high command conference room--or what used to be the Starfleet high command conference room.   
The room looked as if it was the location of a bloody battle of some sort: The large table that once resided in the center of the room was now in phaser burned pieces, every single window was blown out and glass and other debris littered the floor--along with the bodies of both the injured and the deceased. She scanned their faces, recognizing them as being people she had both worked, and in some cases, been friends with. She searched for one face in particular, which was the one belonging to her first officer, but Conner was no where to be seen. Ana took a deep breath, attempting to control her emotions at the thought of losing her friend and fellow officer. She prided herself on her ability to maintain a level head in the face of dire situations and hadn’t felt fear, both for her own life as well as the lives of the people she cared deeply for, since she was a young girl. Yet since waking up on the jump ship in the presence of the stranger with the dark hair and the piercing blue eyes who had taken her from the blast sight in London, she had experienced the emotion on more than one occasion in the span of just a few hours. Ana couldn’t hold back her sigh of relief as she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her. She turned to face her living, yet slightly worse for the wear, first officer and smiled.  
“Thank God, Connor.” She took a step towards him and rested a hand on his arm, notcing that his uniform was singed and torn beyond repair. “I though I’d lost you.”   
“You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.” He placed his hand over hers. “I’m a hard one to kill. I’m just happy that you were late to the meeting, otherwise you might have been caught in the crossfire.”  
“What the hell happened here?” She questioned as she turned to look out the broken windows and over the city.  
“The meeting was attacked by some psycho named Harrison.” He lifted the slightly cracked data PADD he had been holding and pulled something up on the screen before handing it to her. “Apparently he was one of us.”  
“Commander John Harrison.” Ana read aloud as she scanned the very impressive credentials before clicking on the link in order to view a picture of the man in question. When Commander Harrison’s image filled the screen, Ana froze, her eyes widening in shocked recognition. The man in the image before her was none other than the stranger who had abducted her less than five hours ago halfway across the world. Connor snapped her out of her trance-like realization when he spoke.  
“Apparently, Harrison was the same one who blew up the Archives as well.” He said has she silently handed his PADD back to him. “According to Admiral Marcus, he’s gone off the deep end.”  
“Ya, I can see that.” Ana responded quietly as she looked around the room.  
“Is everything ok, Ana?” Connor questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest and gave her his best ‘I can tell there’s something wrong, so don’t tell me their isn’t’ look. Ana was quick to make an excuse for her odd behavior.  
“Does it look like everything is ok?” She stated as she indicated the battle scared room with a wave of her hand. Connor narrowed his eyes and studied her face for a moment.  
“Well, you’ve got a point there.” He said has he uncrossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders wearily. He opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by a familiarly monotone voice coming from behind Ana. Connor looked over and scowled as he spotted someone walking towards her.  
“Why is it that whenever he’s around, you always get that rather unattractive look on your face.” Ana asked, knowing exactly who was approaching them.  
“Because I don’t like him.” He stated coldly, his eyes narrowing. “He’s too...observant.”  
“Oh, don’t be such a xenophobe.” Ana whispered before she turned to greet the man standing behind her. “Commander Spock.” She smiled wearily as she held up her hand in a traditional Vulcan greeting. “What can I do for you?” She asked as he returned her gesture before again placing his hands firmly behind his back.  
“I saw you enter 4.5 minutes ago and came to inquire as to why you were not present at the meeting earlier.” He stated succinctly.  
“I was--delayed, Commander.” She replied. “I was in London when I received the order to report to Daystrom and I was forced to wait for adequate transport to San Francisco.” Spock nodded and lowered his gaze, not even bothering to question her answer, which was rather unusual for him. “Are you well, Spokh?” She asked in Vulcan, attempting to draw him out of his un-Vulcan like state of distraction. After a moment, Spock raised his gaze to meet hers and she could have sworn she saw intense emotion flicker in his dark eyes before he was able to control it.  
“Admiral Pike is dead.” He stated, once again is control of his emotions. “He was killed by a phaser blast to the heart.” Ana’s eyes widened at the news. Chris Pike had been a good friend to both her and her father with whom he had served with when her father was still alive.  
“I’m so sorry, Spock.” She said sincerely. “I know how close you two were and what a positive influence his was to you.”  
“Yes.” Spock replied. “I know that it is illogical, but I will miss his presence greatly.”  
“As will I, Spock.” She murmured. “How is Jim handling all of this?”  
“He is upset for the loss of his friend and mentor and I believe that he will act rashly in order to avenge his death.”  
“Sounds like Kirk.” Connor muttered from behind them. Ana turned to chastise him for being insensitive when Ana heard her name being called over the activity in the conference room. She turned to see who was addressing her and spotted Admiral Marcus on the other side of the room waving he over.   
“My office. Now.” He ordered before making his way towards the nearest turbolift. Spock raised an eyebrow and the Admiral’s decidedly brusk tone and Connor stiffened beside her.  
“Shit.” She mumbled. “Why do I feel like I’m in trouble?” She groaned as she followed the Admiral. This was just not her day.


	4. Chapter 4

Ana was forced to take the next lift down to Admiral Marcus’s office for the one the admiral occupied was filled with his aides and underlings, all vying for his attention and/or his signature on the multiple PADD’s being shoved into his line of sight. Ana waited not so patiently for the next turbolift and had to resist the urge to twiddle her thumbs nervously as the lift descended to the ground floor. She made the trek from Daystrom, across the Starfleet campus and towards the building that housed the offices of Starfleet’s high command. Ana looked up at the building with a sense of apprehension before pressing her palm to the pad next to the door in order to gain access. The door slid open and she made her way inside and towards the admiral’s office, as well as the offices of his personal staff, which took up most of the ground floor of the building. When she reached the door to his private office, she announced her presence and the door slid open a moment later to reveal the admiral sitting behind a large glass desk, his attention focused on the stack of PADD’s in front of him. She entered the large office, lit only by the bright orange light of the rising sun, and stood at attention in front of the desk.  
“I noticed that you were not in attendance at the command meeting earlier this evening.” The admiral stated without looking up from the PADD he was currently reading. “Your absence was rather convenient, considering the events that took place during the meeting.”   
“I apologize for my tardiness, Admiral.” She stated, squaring her shoulders. “I was unavoidably detained in London, sir. It was almost impossible to get a shuttle out of the city after the bombing.” Admiral Marcus finally raised his gaze from the PADD in his hand and stared at her intently before handing her the PADD he had been studying. A picture of John Harrison filled the screen.  
“Have you seen this man before?” Marcus questioned, his eyes never leaving her face.  
“Only pictures, sir.” She lied smoothly. “Commander Bryant updated me on the situation when I arrived at Daystrom.” Marcus narrowed his eyes at her answer and stared at her before speaking.  
“Well, as Commander Bryant probably informed you, Harrison is extremely dangerous and both a threat to Starfleet personnel as well as the civilian population. He needs to be eradicated.” Ana stared at the image of John Harrison a moment longer before raising her gaze to meet Marcus’  
“I understand, sir.” She remarked as she handed the PADD back to the admiral. “But what does all of this have to do with me?”  
“You are one of our best officers, Sullivan. Highly skilled in hand to hand combat and weaponry, and lets not forget about your...questionable heritage which just adds to your lethal abilities.” He turned his chair so that he was facing the large window overlooking the city of San Francisco and the bay beyond that glittered in the early morning light. “I want you to go after him.”  
“Go after Harrison?” Ana questioned, attempting to hide her shock as much as possible.  
“Yes.” Marcus stated. “I want you to track him down and end him.”  
“Sir, I don’t care what this man has done, I refuse to hunt him down like some animal and kill him in cold blood.” She stated. “Despite my so called ‘questionable heritage,’ I’m an explorer, not an assassin.” Marcus stared at her without speaking for what felt like hours to Ana.  
“It was not a request, Sullivan.” He stood from his chair, placed his hands on his desk and leaned forward. “It was an order.”   
“Sir, I...” She started, but was cut off with a dismissive wave of the admiral’s hand.  
“Let me make something completely clear to you, Captain Sullivan.” He said as he moved around his desk to stand in front of her. “You are a member of Starfleet only because I am allowing it. It would be all to easy for me to report to the rest of high command that the half-Romulan captain that they hold in such high regard, is actually a spy working for the Romulan Empire on a mission to take down Starfleet and the Federation from the inside.” Ana’s eyes widened and she could feel the barely suppressed anger and frustration that she had been trying to control for the past 24 hours bubble to the surface. She took a deep breath before speaking, but her voice still came out in a hoarse murmur.  
“They would never believe you.” She stated vehemently. “My father...”  
“Your precious father isn’t here to save you now, Sullivan.” He spat out her name as he took a step closer to her. “In fact, Admiral Sullivan would have been rather disappointed in his daughter’s insubordination.” The admiral took a step back and placed his hands behind his back. “Do we have an understanding, Captain?”  
“Yes.”  
“Yes what?”  
“Yes, sir.” She replied through gritted teeth, wishing that she was blessed with the cool collectedness that her Vulcan ancestors possessed. Her quick temper was always one of her weaknesses.  
“I’m glad.” He remarked as he went to stand behind his desk again. “Now, I want you to hunt this bastard down and take him out.  
“But, sir, he could be anywhere by now.” Ana said as she took a step closer to his desk. Marcus opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the chirping of the built in comm on his desk. He reached over and pressed the answer button.  
“Speak.” He said sternly.  
“This is Williams, sir.” The voice on the comm responded.  
“Yes, Commander, what is it?”  
“I’ve been monitoring the investigation crashed jump ship, and it appears that Lieutenant Commander Scott of the USS Enterprise has discovered something in the wreckage that may lead us to Harrison.”   
“Good. Send me the coordinates of his location.”  
“Right away, sir.”  
“Has the Lieutenant Commander told anyone of his discovery yet?” Marcus questioned.  
“Not as of yet, sir.” The man named William’s responded. “But, it wont be long until he brings the information to Kirk’s attention.”  
“Acknowledged, Commander. Marcus out.” He reached over and ended the comm right as one of the PADD’s on his desk dinged to alert them of a new message. The admiral picked it up and read the coordinates, his eyes widening slightly as he did so.   
“Well, it looks like half of your job has already been done for you, Captain.” He said, handing her the PADD. “All you need to do is go after him.” Ana looked down at the screen, her own eyes widening at coordinates.  
“Kronos.” She muttered. “You want me to go after a fugitive who has taken refuge past the neutral zone and on the Klingon home world? That’s suicide!” She slammed the PADD down on his desk. “Go ahead and have me court martialed, Admiral, because I refuse to risk both the lives of my crew and the safety of the Trafalgar on some futile mission for vengeance.”  
“You’re not taking your ship or your crew, Sullivan.” He reported. “This is a completely covert operation that will not show up in Starfleet records.”  
“That still doesn’t explain how you expect me to get halfway across the galaxy, and then across the neutral zone.”  
“Follow me, Sullivan.” Admiral Marcus made his way around his desk and towards another door on the other side of his office. He entered a code into the pad next to the door and placed his hand on scanner. The door slid open a moment later and he beckoned her to follow him down a dimly lit hallway and into a large, sterile looking room which looked like some sort of lab. He walked towards the center of them room where a table stood with a large, cylindrical black object resting atop it. “This is how you will be getting to Kronos.”  
“What is it?” Ana questioned, her natural curiosity momentarily overriding her anger over her present situation.  
“It is a portable transwarp beaming device.” Marcus motioned towards the device with his hand. “A similar device is how Harrison was able to abandon his crashing ship and escape to Kronos.” He turned to face her square on. “You’ll leave right away.”  
“But, sir, I’m not exactly prepared for interstellar travel and covert operations.” She motioned to her uniform with the short skirt and fitted jacket.   
“Everything you need is in that locker against that wall.” He motioned to a dark locker behind her. “Now, suit up.” He turned back towards the door and walked out, leaving Ana to change and arm herself for battle. About ten minutes later, she had donned the black leggings and shirt was well as an ankle length synthetic leather coat that were in the locker, and was in the process of arming her self to the teeth with a multitude of knives (phasers weren’t really her style) when the admiral entered that lab again.  
“Are you ready, Captain?”  
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She responded before Marcus punched in the coordinates on the transwarp beaming device. The last thing she saw was the satisfied, and somewhat crazed, smirk on the admirals face before she was surrounded by the golden rings of the transporter and hurled into the unknown.


	5. Chapter 5

Khan, otherwise known as the “fugitive John Harrison” to his current enemy Starfleet, sat against the cold wall of one of the many uninhabited caves located in a deserted province of Kronos, the Klingon home world. The cave was lit only by the light of the PADD he was holding, yet he did not seem to notice the dark as his fingers flew over the screen as he monitored the surrounding area for Klingon patrols as well as the skies above the planet for any signs of pursuit by his “friends” in Starfleet. A storm raged outside of the safety of the cave, and was causing massive interference with his instruments. He was attempting to calibrate the sensors on his tricorder, when he happened to glance the PADD lying next to him, his brow furrowing in confusion at the readings on the screen. He was about to pass it off as more interference from the storm when his tricorder began giving off the same bizarre readings. It was almost as if someone was...beaming down to the planets surface, which was illogical seeing as a Federation ship would not have been able to make it to Kronos in such a short amount of time, even at full warp, not to mention the fact that it was rather insulting that they thought a single person could subdue him. He scanned the area outside the cave again, but all that remained of the earlier reading was the almost undetectable imprint that a transporter leaves behind after beaming. Even after three hundred years, technology still wasn’t completely reliable, so Khan stood, placed his hood over his head and exited the cave to go and investigate the anomaly himself. The old fashioned way.

* * *

  
The first thing Ana noticed when she materialized on Kronos was the wind. It whipped around her, causing her coat to swirl around her ankles. The second thing she noticed was that she was extremely exposed and immediately ran for cover in case any Klingon patrols happened to be in the vicinity. When she reached a relatively hidden alcove, she pulled out her tricorder and began to scan the area for signs of life, but the storm that was raging around her was causing major interference and she couldn’t get a reliable reading. She was just about to recalibrate the damn thing, when she suddenly found herself lifted off the ground and against the nearest wall, a hand holding her wrists above her head and another patting her down for weapons. She tried to see who her attacker was as she tried to wrench her arms free, but a hood prevented Ana from seeing anything. When she was completely disarmed, her mystery attacker pushed back the hood. Ana’s eyes widened.  
“Harrison.” She whispered.  
“Did you expect someone else, Captain?” He questioned snidely. “A Klingon perhaps? But, if I’m not mistaken, it was me you were searching for.”  
“No.” Ana stated succinctly. “You are not mistaken.”  
“Did Admiral Marcus send you?” He tightened his grip on her wrists and leaned closer.  
“How the hell did you know that.” She eyed him suspiciously.  
“Just a sneaking suspicion that you just confirmed.” He replied. “Tell me, have you come to drag me back to Earth to face justice?”  
“Not exactly,” she smiled up at him, “I’ve actually been ordered here to just kill you and have done with it ”  
“And you, the honorable Starfleet officer that you are, followed the good admirals orders without question.” Harrison asked, the corners of his lips turing up in a slight smirk.   
“It’s not exactly that simple, to tell you the truth.” Ana responded as she tried in vain to twist her wrists free.   
“So there is such a thing as a member of Starfleet with a conscience.”  
“Actually, most of us have them, it’s not just me.” She muttered. “You seem to be the only member of Starfleet, if you really are a member of Starfleet, I’ve encountered who doesn’t seem to posses one.”  
“And what makes you say that?” He queried.  
“Well, you did kill dozens of innocent people as well as honored members of the Starfleet high command in the span of about two days.” She stated.   
“Perhaps you are right.” He conceded, though he didn’t look too apologetic. “However, I observed that, despite your esteemed position in the high command, you were noticeably absent from my latest demonstration.”   
“Some crazed terrorist held me up back in London.” She responded. “I was running a bit behind schedule.”  
“An unfortunate occurrence. Your presence was missed.”  
“You’re too kind.” She flashed him a saccharine smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, orders are orders and I’d rather get this over with before any Klingons decide to make a surprise visit.” Ana said before slamming her head into Harrison’s nose. He grunted in surprise as his grip on her wrists loosened fractionally. She took that opportunity to wrench her wrists out his hand and elbow him in the face before ducking under his swinging arm to stand on the other side of him, effectively placing his back towards the wall with limited options of escape. She crouched into a fighting stance as she waited for him to fight back, but he surprised her by staying where he was, his stance relaxed and his head tilted slightly to the side as if he was studying her. And then he did something completely unexpected: he laughed.  
“I must admit, Captain, that you nearly took me by surprise.” He stared at her, his ice blue eyes sparkling with a sort of demented mirth. “I’m extremely hard to surprise. But, I wont fight you.”  
“That’s not exactly your choice to make.” She stated before she charged towards him, punched him in the jaw, swept his feet from underneath him, and pinned him on the ground beneath her. To her chagrin, he didn’t look remotely fazed. In fact, he looked as if he was enjoying himself. There was a certain glimmer in his eyes that screamed “is that all you’ve got?” Ana decided to wipe the smug look of his face with her fist and proceeded to punch him multiple times in the nose and across the jaw. Her Romulan heritage prevented the bones in her hands from breaking, but the skin across her knuckles began to peel away after about a dozen well aimed punches that would have rendered a Klingon inert. After a few more punches, Ana finally stopped to take a good look at Harrison. He looked as unharmed and smug as before which really pissed her off. She was about to throw another punch when he suddenly grabbed her forearm and flipped her onto her back so that she was beneath him.  
“Don’t you think that’s enough for now.” He stated.  
“What the hell are you?” She muttered. He responded with a question of his own.  
“Don’t you find it odd that Admiral Marcus sent you here, to the home world of one of the Federation’s fiercest enemies, alone, practically unarmed and unprepared with the express purpose of killing me?” He stared at her intently, eyes blazing, as he leaned closer to her. “A logical explanation would be that he is holding something over your head in order to get you to do his dirty work. A court martial, perhaps?” When she remained silent, he continued, knowing he’d struck a chord. “Ah, so there is a potential threat to your career. The Admiral would have been very disappointed to learn of his only daughters impending dishonorable discharge from Starfleet, seeing as his own record was untarnished.”  
“How the hell do you know who my father was?” She questioned darkly, rage boiling in her.   
“It wasn’t hard to find out everything about you, Rhiana Sullivan, Captain of the U.S.S. Trafalgar. Your father was captain of that particular starship himself before he was promoted, and you specifically requested placement on the Trafalgar immediately following your graduation from the Academy and proceeded to work your way up through the ranks.” He smirked at the momentary look of confusion on her face. “The personnel database wasn’t hard to gain access to, and it is not as if are many half-Romulan officers in Starfleet.” He explained.  
“Well it seems you have the upper hand seeing as you know practically everything there is to know about me and I know next to nothing about you.” She stated. “Not exactly playing fair, are we?”  
“Playing fair is for the weak.” He responded simply. “Something that you are not, Captain Sullivan, and Admiral Marcus knows this.” She stared at him in confusion at the mention of Marcus. “He knows that you are one of Starfleet’s best officers and a nearly irreplaceable asset, yet the admiral sent you here not to kill me, but in the hopes that I would kill you.”  
“What?” She whispered, so focused on what Harrison had to say that she didn’t realize that he’d released his grip on her and that she could escape at any time.  
“Admiral Marcus thinks you know something that you actually don’t and he decided to solve two of his problems at once by sending you here, thinking that I would end you, simultaneously fueling the hatred of humanity against me while preventing you from spilling his secrets.”  
“Secrets? What secrets?” She queried, brow furrowed.  
“Somehow, the admiral must have learned of our...meeting in London and assumed that I gave you information that would have jeopardized his career.” He stated.  
“What the bloody hell does he think you told me?” She muttered. She knew Marcus was a grade A asshole, but if what Harrison was telling her was true, than she had a way bigger problem on her hands than just the threat of court martial.  
“That,” he said as he looked up towards the smoky sky, “is a story for another time.” He looked back down at her, and thats when Ana finally noticed the sounds of ship engines in the distance, so distracted was she by what the mysterious John Harrison had just revealed to her. “We have company.”


	6. Chapter 6

_“We have company.”_  
Before Ana could even react, Harrison was on his feet and moving swiftly towards the sound of ships, Klingon Birds-of-Pray if she wasn’t mistaken, as well as the sound out one other smaller vessel that she could not identify the origin of. Just as he was about to disappear into the ruins of the abandoned Klingon city, Harrison suddenly turned to face her again and pulled something from within his black trench coat.   
“You might need this back.” He tossed the object at her before melting into the shadows between the derelict buildings. Ana, still minutely shaken up by the whole situation, slowly reached for whatever Harrison had seen fit to give to her and couldn’t suppress a small smirk as she wrapped her fingers around the familiar handle of one of the daggers he had confiscated not ten minutes before. She was on her feet a moment later, huffing in annoyance when she realized that she had lost track Harrison, her main objective for being on that God forsaken planet in the first place.   
“Damn.” She swore under her breath as she ran in the direction in which Harrison had disappeared. She weaved her way through burned out and abandoned buildings before coming to a clearing in the deserted province of Kronos. She quickly ducked behind the nearest corner as she spotted three Klingon ships circling a smaller landed vessel, guns trained. One of the Klingon ships landed and a handful of armed-to-the-teeth Klingons exited the ship and stood still, as if waiting for something. A moment later, the hatch of the other unmarked ship opened and a slender, dark skinned human woman exited and slowly approached the motionless Klingons. Ana’s brow furrowed as she stared at the extremely brave, yet foolish, woman. She looked vaguely familiar.   
A moment later, one of the Klingons, presumably the leader, broke away from the group and approached the lone human. The two exchanged words, presumably in Klingon, but Ana could not make out what they were saying over the noise of the wind and a strange thrumming sound originating from the surrounding area. Suddenly, the Klingon grabbed the woman by the neck and began lifting her from the ground. Ana was about to intervene, but before she could even move from her hiding spot, the Klingons began dropping to the ground, chests and stomachs still steaming from phaser fire. Ana cursed as she searched the ruins fro the source of the attack, but she already had an idea who it was. She was proved right as she moved from her hiding place and into the center of the fray where she spotted a cloaked figure about a hundred meters away taking out half a dozen Klingons with a phaser cannon.  
“Harrison.” She whispered as she stared up at him in reluctant awe as he fought off hostile after hostile. He was a force to be reckoned with, a true born warrior, and it was at that moment that Ana truly started to doubt everything she had been told about John Harrison. She had never seen a member of Starfleet fight like that: with absolute, yet frighteningly controlled brutality. Ana was considered one of the best, it not the best, at hand-to-hand combat in Starfleet, yet if she were pitted against Harrison in a no-holds-bared fight, she would undoubtably loose, despite her superior Romulan strength. This realization also proved that Harrison hadn’t been lying when he told her of his suspicions about Marcus and his plot to have her killed. He brows furrowed in concentration and confusion at this thought. She was so caught up in her own musings that she didn’t notice the approach of a particularly menacing Klingon until it was almost to late. She ducked under his arm just as his razor sharp bat’leth came down in a fatal arch, missing her arm by hair’s breadth. She quickly pulled the dagger that Harrison had so kindly returned to her out of her boot and spread her feet apart in a fighting stance. Her opponent charged her, blade raised, but she was far quicker than him and easily ducked under his swing and buried her dagger to the hilt into the side through a minute gap in his armor. He attempted to twist around and garb her, but she twisted the blade and the Klingon made a rather gruesome gurgling sound before falling to the ground, face first, her dagger still imbedded within him. Ana reached down and removed the blade from rapidly cooling corpse before moving from her exposed position and back into the shadows to plan her next course of action. She wiped her blade clean on the leg of her pants as she moved through the dark passages between the ruins. She rounded a corner and spotted three familiar figures warding off four extremely pissed off Klingons. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a fifth Klingon sneaking up on one of the familiar figures, disruptor raised. Ana immediately sprang into action.  
“Jim! Behind you!” She shouted and the man in question ducked to the side just as the Klingon fired his weapon, narrowly missing a very confused Jim Kirk. The Klingon trained his weapon on Kirk once more, but froze and dropped to the ground like a stone before he could fire, a knife protruding from the back of his neck. Ana approached Jim and kneeled down next to before pulling her knife from the dead Klingon.   
“Are your alright, Jim?” She asked as she looked the somewhat dazed captain over for any sign of injury.  
“Ana? What are you doing here?” He questioned unbelievably. Ana opened her mouth to answer but closed it again when she happened to glance over Jim’s shoulder.  
“Hold that thought.” She muttered before jumping to her feet and over towards where Spock and the woman she now recognized as being the Enterprises communications officer Lieutenant Uhura, who had appeared to have lost her phaser were fighting off the remaining Klingons. She charged the one nearest to her and tackled him to the ground, catching him completely by surprise with her swiftness. Before he could even fight back, she trapped his head in her grip and twisted it at an unnatural angle and was rewarded with a satisfying snap, before his body went limp. She immediately turned and threw her knife at Uhura’s opponent just as he was about to deliver a killing blow. The dagger imbedded itself in his eye socket and he fell to his knees, clutching his head and cursing in Klingon. Uhura used his weakness to her advantage and moved to pick up her phaser, which had been kicked a few meters away, before firing at the Klingon. Spock took out the remaining opponent before turning to search out their unexpected ally. When he spotted Ana, who had moved to stand next to Jim once more, a raised eyebrow was the only betrayal of his surprise.  
“Captain Sullivan.” He stated. “Your presence is both surprising and highly illogical.”  
“It’s good to see you too, Spock.” She retorted with a smirk.  
“He’s got a point, Ana.” Jim turned to look at her “How the hell did you get here? The Trafalgar was no where in the vicinity of Kronos.”  
“Well, it’s rather a long story,” Ana responded as she turned and spotted Harrison, “and now isn’t really the time for stories.” The rest of them followed her gaze and watched, almost mesmerized as Harrison took out three Klingons with a single bast from his phaser cannon before throwing it to the ground and ripping the mask that covered the lower part of his face. He jumped down from the platform he had been standing on, threw his phaser rifle at an approaching Klingon with deadly force, and proceeded to take out another handful of hostiles with a single dagger. Once he had taken out the remaining Klingons, he picked his phaser rifle back up and stalked towards the group of frozen Starfleet officers, weapon raised and ready. Spock raised his own weapon as Harrison approached.  
“Stand down.” Spock commanded as he neared them.   
“How many torpedoes?” Harrison questioned as he pulled the hood off his head. Spock tried to order him the stand down again, but Harrison’s response was to shoot the gun out of the Vulcans hand. “The torpedoes. The weapons you threatened me with in your message.” He paused, his gaze straying to Ana for an almost unnoticeable moment before returning to Jim. “How many are there?” Kirk ad Harrison stared at each other unyieldingly for a moment, yet it was Spock who eventually answered his question.  
“Seventy-two.” He stated. Harrison turned to look at the Vulcan, a contemplative look on his face. He turned his gaze on Ana once more.  
“I surrender.” He declared simply as he dropped his weapon, his eyes locked on her. He reluctantly tore his gaze from her when Jim spoke.  
“On behalf of Christopher Pike, I accept your surrender.” Jim stated as he approached his and proceeded to punch him repeatedly in the face. His attack however had no obvious affect on Harrison who just passively took hit after hit without so much as a grunt. She had never seen Jim act like that in the five years that she had known him and, it wasn’t until Uhura yelled at him to stop that he did so. Ana couldn’t help but flinch when Jim turned around to face them and she saw the crazed, and heartbroken, look in his eyes. Apparently Admiral Pikes death had had more of an affect on him than he would care to admit. “Cuff him.” He stated simply before silently making his way back to the unmarked ship, Spock approached Harrison, as he pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt, but before he could place them on the “prisoner,” Ana stepped in front of him.  
“I got this Spock.” She said, taking the cuffs from him. “Go and talk to Jim.” He hesitated for a moment before nodding and making his way back to the ship as well, Uhura following closely behind. She turned around and was faced with a smirking Harrison. She scowled at him as she grabbed his wrists. “I don’t know what your play is, but I intend to find out.” She announced as she locked the cuffs around his extended wrists.  
“I do not know of what you speak.” He replied.  
“There is no way in hell that you would just give up that easily unless you had some sort of ulterior motive.” She stated as she tugged sharply on his manacles, effectively pulling him closer. “Now, I’ll ask again. What’s your play?” He stared at her for a moment through narrowed eyes before his lips curved into a smirk.  
“You’ll see soon enough.”


	7. Chapter 7

Once they had beamed onto the Enterprise, Harrison was immediately surrounded by a small contingent of armed security officers before being led towards the brig. And that’s where Ana found herself, trailing behind Harrison and his babysitters.  
“Captain Sullivan.” Ana turned her head to look at the Vulcan walking next to her, hands behind his back.  
“Yes, Spock?”  
“You have yet to inform us of the nature of your presence on Kronos.” He stated succinctly.  
“Seriously, Ana.” Jim backed him up. “How, and more importantly, why are you here?”  
“I promise I’ll tell you the whole story.” She turned to glare at the back of Harrison’s head. “Let’s just get that bastard locked up first.”  
The two officers stared at her for a moment before Jim conceded.  
“Fine.” He pulled his communicator out of his pocket and flipped it open. “McCoy, report to the brig in twenty. Bring your kit.”  
“Dammit, Jim.” A disgruntled voice responded. “I don’t make house calls.”  
“Now you do.” Jim responded. “Brig. Twenty minutes.” He closed his communicator with a snap, effectively cutting off any more protests from the surely CMO. “Why don’t you show Captain Sullivan to some guest quarters so she can change.” Jim said as he looked to his first officer. He then turned to Uhura and ordered her to send a transmission to Starfleet command letting them know that they had Harrison in custody, before turning to face Ana once more. “Get changed and meet us in the brig ASAP.”  
“Is that an order, Jim?” Ana responded as she crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes in mock irritation.  
“Well, you are on my ship after all.” He smiled tiredly at her before turning to walk away. “Oh, and Ana?” Jim said as he stopped once more and turned to face her. “Thanks for the backup down on Kronos. You saved our asses.” Ana smiled at him.  
“Well, I couldn’t very well let those Klingon’s kill you.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “You were my ride home.”  
“You could have just said you’re welcome.” Jim muttered.  
“Now, where would the fun be in that?” She winked at him as he smiled tiredly at her before turning on his heel and making his way briskly in the direction of what Ana assumed were his quarters. Ana kept her eyes on Jim until he was out of her line of sight before turning to face Spock once more and raised an eyebrow in an expression of surprise as well as a slight amount of approval at what she saw.  
“Should I give you two a moment alone?” She questioned with mock seriousness and smirked when the first officer and the communications officer jumped apart. While Uhura had the look of a guilty schoolgirl about her, Spock remained stoic as ever.  
“I’ll just--you know--report to the bridge now.” Uhura mumbled as she briskly made her way to the nearest turbolift, throwing a brief smile over her shoulder at the Vulcan now standing next to Ana.   
“I apologize, Captain.” Spock said as he turned to face Ana. “My severe lapse in conduct was due to...” But Ana cut him off with a wave of her hand and a knowing smile.  
“Say no more, Commander. Fortunately, it’s none of my concern who you choose to snog after a successfully completed mission.”  
“Snog?” Spock brows furrowed slightly with his obvious confusion at her vocabulary. “Is that a Romulan phrase? I have no recollection of ever seeing that particular word in the Starfleet database.” Ana couldn’t keep the smile from her face.   
“Oh no, not Romulan. It’s very much an English term.” Spock tilted his head questioningly before he wisely changed the subject.  
“Perhaps I should show you to your quarters now.”  
“Lead on, Commander.”

* * *

  
Ana tugged on the rather short hemline of the yellow command uniform she had been given to replace her singed and dirty outfit she had worn to pursue Harrison. She had just exited her “quarters” and was now walking briskly in the direction of the brig. After a few wrong turns through the gleaming halls of the Enterprise, she finally located the brig. She was about to enter the security code she had been given into the keypad next to the door when it slid open with a swish, bringing her face to face with a scowling man in a blue medical shirt.   
“You must be Doctor McCoy.” Ana said as she extended her hand towards the man in question and smiled politely. He eyed her with an expression of shock and awe.  
“I must be dreaming.” He said quietly. “Vulcan’s don’t smile…or shake hands for that matter.” It was at that moment that Ana realized that she had forgotten to cover her ears up again after she had cleaned up and changed. She opened her mouth to correct his assumption, but was interrupted by a voice coming from behind the good doctor.  
“There you are, Ana.” She leaned to the side slightly to see around the frowning doctor and spotted Jim and Spock standing on the other side of the brig. Jim then turned his attention to McCoy, his brows furrowing in confusion. “Bones, why don’t you step aside and let the good captain inside.” Dr. McCoy’s head shot back to face Ana and his eyes widened with surprise.  
“You’re Captain Sullivan?” He muttered as he stared at her more intently.  
“Guilty.” She said with a nod, a small smile playing across her lips.  
“I’ve never met a Romulan before…in person at least.”  
“Well, technically I’m only half-Romulan.” She stage whispered.   
“If you’re done interrogating Captain Sullivan, Bones, I would really like to get down to business.” The doctor shot an annoyed expression at Jim over his shoulder before stepping aside to let Ana pass.   
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Doctor.” She said as she sauntered past him.  
“Likewise, Captain.” He replied, a charming southern drawl lacing his speech now that his guard was down. “And please, call me Bones.”   
“As you wish,” she lowered her voice to a husky purr, “Bones.” She winked at him before the doors to the brig slid closed, leaving a bewildered yet smiling McCoy in the brightly lit hallway.  
“I would appreciate if you resist the urge to seduce my CMO while you're onboard.” Jim said with mock seriousness.   
“Just a bit of fun.” She said with a wink. “So, has he said anything?” She asked as she motioned towards the stoic figure dressed all in black standing rigidly behind the Vulcan glass barrier of his cell.  
“He knows about our warp core troubles.” Spock stated clearly.  
“How?” Ana questioned.  
“That’s what we’re trying to find out.” Jim stated as he crossed his arms over his chest and shot a glare at Harrison. “That bastard attacked the archives in London and the entire High Command in San Francisco and I want to why.” His voice shook with barely repressed anger.  
“Jim, I know the Admiral’s death has been hard on you, but you can’t let your emotions cloud your judgement.” Ana murmured as she rested a comforting hand on his arm.  
“Captain Sullivan is correct, Captain.” Spock stated as he nodded slightly in agreement. It was at that moment that Harrison chose to speak.  
“Ignore me and you will get everyone on this ship killed.” He stated coldly.   
“What is he talking about, Jim?” Ana asked, but her question fell on deaf ears as Jim stiffened with rage.  
“I believe Harrison is attempting to manipulate the Captain.” Spock stated quietly. “I would not recommend engaging the prisoner further—“ But Jim cut him off.  
“Give me a minute.” Both Spock and Ana turned to leave. “Not you Ana. I want you here.” Ana turned to face him once more and nodded. Jim stared hard at her for a moment before turning and striding towards Harrison’s cell. Ana stood her ground as she eyed both men warily. This was not going to end well.  
“Let me explain what’s happening here.” Jim stated, fists clenched at his sides. “You are a criminal. I watched you murder innocent men and women. I was authorized to end you and the only reason you are still alive is because I am allowing it. So shut. You’re. Mouth.” Kirk glared at Harrison through the glass.  
“Oh, Captain, are you going to punch me again over and over until your arm weakens, or perhaps you can set your vicious little Romulan captain on me once more,” he turned his blue eyed gaze on Ana for a moment before returning to Kirk once more, “clearly you want to, so tell me why did you allow me to live?”   
“We all make mistakes.” Jim responded, his tone less than convincing.  
“No.” Harrison shook his head slightly and momentarily looked away. “I surrendered to you because, despite your attempt to convince me otherwise, you seem to have a conscience Mr Kirk. As do you Captain Sullivan.” He shot a glance at her once more. “If you did not then it would be impossible for me to convince you both of the truth: 23 17 46 11. Coordinates not far from earth. If you want to know why I did what I did, go and take a look.” He stated, his voice lowered in a dramatic whisper.  
“Give us one reason why we should listen to you.” Kirk demanded.  
“I can give you 72.” Harrison stated simply. “And they’re on board your ship, Captain. They have been all along.” Jim stared at Harrison intently for a moment longer as if trying to find a hidden meaning in his words. Finding none, he turned and strode towards the exit of the brig, without even sparing Ana a second look. She stared after the disgruntled captain for a moment before Harrison’s voice drew her attention.  
“Perhaps you will be more logical then your human companions, Rhiana.” He remarked.  
“That’s Captain Sullivan to you.” She responded as she strode forward to stand directly in front of him, only a the glass of his cell separating them.  
“Why do you suppress your true nature, Captain.” He took yet another step towards the glass barrier so he was only an inch or so away, his breath slightly fogging the surface as he spoke. “You have a name fit for a Romulan empress, yet you act like you are no better then the human scum that you surround yourself with.”  
“Its called loyalty, Harrison, but I wouldn’t expect a man like you to understand such a noble concept.” She responded, eyes narrowed and her cheeks turning slightly green with anger.  
“Oh, I assure you, Captain, I am extremely loyal to those I deem worthy, almost to a fault.” He looked away momentarily as if he was experiencing a painful memory. “But I wonder,” he lifted his gaze to rest once more on her face, “would this so called loyalty of yours remain if you discovered that the very organization that you have pledged your loyalty to was the same one that was responsible for your parents unfortunate demise?”  
“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” she whispered. “My parents were killed by Romulan assassins while negotiating a cease fire between the Federation and the Romulan Empire.”  
“You will come to understand.” He moved to sit on the bench in his cell. “In time.”


	8. Chapter 8

"What exactly are we looking for?" Connor questioned as his fingers flew across the nav systems touch screens on the small shuttle.  
"Not sure." Scotty replied as he steered the shuttle precisely toward the coordinates Jim had relayed to him. "Kirk suspected we'd know it when we saw it."  
"Helpful, that." Connor mumbled as they crested one of Jupiter's many moons. That was when they saw it. "What the bloody hell is that?" Connor muttered, eyes wide as he stared at the singular space dock floating between Jupiter and Io, one of the large planet's moons.  
"Your guess is as good as mine," Scotty muttered as he stared wide eyed at the station that hadn't shown up on any database he had looked at. "But for supposedly not existing, that is one bloody huge building station."  
Connor nodded in agreement without taking his eyes off the enormous floating dock. "Should we try to board? I think we should, but considering it's not supposed to be here, I'm guessing the security is pretty tight."  
As Scotty opened his mouth to agree, they spotted a party of work ships approaching the station. "We don't have time to discuss this. It's now or never." Scotty quickly swung their craft around and joined the party of incoming vessels. To their amazement, and relief, they were not contacted or recognized as impostors as the fleets approached the now slowly opening doors.   
"Here goes nothing," Connor said.

* * *

  
“What’ve we got?” Ana asked as she entered into the med bay, almost plowing over Bones as he rushed past the door to his cluttered desk.  
“You better see for yourself. Bit hard to explain how hidden inside the mysterious torpedoes Admiral Marcus sent us to use on Khan, are cryotubes containing people we can only assume are genetically enhanced like our unexpected guest, whose blood is showing some pretty astounding qualities, by the way.” At Ana’s look of bewildered shock, Bones paused in his frantic activity and gestured over his shoulder. “I told you, you better see for yourself. Kirk’s in there.”  
Ana, trying to process what sounded to her like craziness, entered through an archway to find Kirk, Spock, and Carol Marcus gathered around what she took to be one of the torpedoes Bones had mentioned. The top of the torpedo was open to reveal inside of it a figure enveloped in frost and appearing to be asleep.   
“What is this?” she asked no one in particular.  
“Bones and Carol discovered this when they went down to the uninhabited moon to see what’s inside of these things. It was a bit of a difficult process but Kahn’s information seems to be valid.” Bones, who had just entered the room, looked shocked at Kirk description of a “difficult process.”  
“Oh, it’d seem much more difficult if it had been you down there about to get your arm decapitated and your pretty little head blown all the way into Romulan space!” Kirk gave him a smile.   
“Bloody hell! How long was I asleep for?” Ana looked between her comrades, her brow furrowed.  
“Only as long as we could spare you.” Jim replied, arm crossed over his chest and a serious expression on his face. “We need your expertise.”  
“I knew there was something strange about these torpedoes since I heard about them.” Carol cut in. “Usually my father keeps me well informed about new weapons tech, so when he kept me in the dark about these,” she motioned towards the torpedoes, “I grew a bit suspicious. I never thought this was what he was trying to hide, however.”   
“Is that what Harrison was talking about in the brig? The torpedoes?” Ana asked before her brow furrowed in confusion. “Wait a second.” She turned to look at the blond doctor. “The admiral is your father?”  
“Yes.” She responded a bit breathlessly before thrusting her hand towards Ana, who had no choice but the grasp it. “Carol Marcus. Pleased to meet you, Captain Sullivan.” She then immediately turned back to Spock and continued voicing her suspicions about the torpedoes, including repeating Ana’s previous question about Harrison’s knowledge of the weapons.  
“He did not specify what we would find, but merely suggested there was something suspicious on board the Enterprise.” Spock stated. “The captain assumed, however illogically, that Harrison was referring to the torpedoes, and ordered Dr.’s Marcus and McCoy to, as he referred to it, ‘pop one open.’”  
“If I hadn't have ordered it, we would still be in the dark about these.” Jim waved toward the open torpedo and the cryotube inside. “It was a pretty significant detail for Marcus to leave out when he ordered these on board my ship.” The usually easy going captain had a look of both anger and concern on his face.  
“Well, it seems to me that we are going to have to talk to Harrison again to find out how much he knows.” Ana suggested. Kirk nodded almost absentmindedly.  
“Right.” He turned to look at Ana. “I want you there with Spock and me when we talk to him again.” Ana hesitated for a moment before answering.  
“Very well.” She replied before following Kirk and Spock out of the medbay and towards the brig.

* * *

  
Jim, followed closely behind by Spock and Ana, entered the brig and approached Harrison's cell. The man in question was seated on the simple cot in his cell, back ramrod straight and his hands placed firmly on his knees. Ana immediately noticed that his eyes followed her closely as she made her way closer to his cell to stand between Jim and his Vulcan first officer. Only when the less than congenial Starfleet captain spoke, did Harrison's gaze move from her to study Kirk.  
"Why is there a man in that torpedo?" Kirk questioned simply.  
"There are men and women in all those torpedoes, Captain." Harrison responded without hesitation. "I put them there." Jim's brows furrowed in confusion as he quickly glanced at Ana before turning his gaze back to Khan.  
"Who the hell are you?" Harrison stared at the three of them for a moment before answering.  
"A remnant of a time long past. Genetically engineered to be superior so as to lead others to peace in a world at war." Ana thought back to her face off with Harrison back on Kronos and suddenly everything made sense: his strength, speed and his intelligence. Ana probably didn't stand a chance against him back on Kronos. By the time she was able to turn her thoughts back to the conversation at hand, Jim was speaking once more.  
"I looked up John Harrison. Until a year ago, he didn't exist." Jim stated, arms folded across his chest.  
"John Harrison was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your Admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause," he tilted his head to the side and squinted his eyes ever so slightly, "a smokescreen to conceal my true identity." His intense cerulean gaze found Ana's once more. "My name is Khan.”   
It was just a name, Ana attempted to convince herself. But for some inexplicable reason, when spoken by him, it became more. From the deep rasp of his voice to his cold, intense gaze, his name became a threat. A warning of what was yet to come. Apparently the revelation of “Harrison’s” true identity had the same effect on her compatriots. Both Jim a Spock were remained silent for a moment before the former spoke up.  
“Why would a Starfleet admiral ask a three-hundred-year-old frozen man for help?” Jim questioned.  
“Because I am better.” Khan declared as his gaze drifted towards Ana momentarily.  
“At what?” Kirk questioned snidely.  
“Everything.” Khan stated simply, before he began to pace around his cell. “Alexander Marcus needed to respond to an uncivilized threat in a civilized time, and for that he needed a warriors mind—my mind— to design weapons and warships.”  
“You are suggesting the admiral violated every regulation he vowed to uphold, simply because he wanted to exploit your intellect.” Spock asserted.  
“He wanted to exploit my savagery.” Khan countered. “Intellect alone is useless in a fight, Mr. Spock.” Khan looked the Vulcan up and down with a smirk on his face. “You, you can’t even break a rule, how can you be expected to break bone?” His smirk turned into a frown. “Your Admiral Marcus is not the upstanding Starfleet officer you believe him to be. He is a ruthless man whose ambition nearly matches my own and it has been his goal to transform Starfleet from a peace keeping and explorative armada, into a deadly weapon. He began this mission nearly twenty years ago when he was just a captain and he conspired against his fellow officer, James Sullivan, and ordered the assassination of him and his Romulan wife.” He turned his heated gaze on Ana before continuing. “He then framed Romulan assassins for the attack in order to create greater tension between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. His plan worked and he was immediately put in charge of a new, top-secret division of Starfleet, ordered with the task of creating offensive weapons: Section 31.” The three Starfleet officers outside of Khan’s cell remained silent for a few moments.  
“How the hell do you know all of that.” Ana questioned, her voice low and slightly uneven.  
“I assure you, the admiral was quite open with me about the subject.” Khan responded.  
“You’re lying.” Ana stated simply, shaking her head in denial.  
“I speak the truth, Captain Sullivan.” He countered. “Perhaps you are simply choosing not to believe it.” Khan approached the glass wall of his cell and looked down at Ana and lowered his voice into a low murmur. “How does it make you feel, Captain Sullivan, knowing that you have been bowing and scraping to the man who had your parents killed right before your eyes?” He smiled darkly. “It burns you, doesn't it?” At this point, Ana was shaking with anger, her pent up emotions of betrayal, sadness, and rage welling up inside of her. Khan noticed her walls crumbling, and so did Kirk.  
“Ana.” Jim put a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe you should step out for a bit.”  
“I’m fine.” She responded, a bit too sharply.  
“Captain Kirk is correct.” Spock stated. “I believe that your emotions have been compromised.” Ana ripped her shoulder out of Jim’s grasp and after glaring at Khan one more time, stormed out of the brig, Khan’s gaze boring into her back. When she was back in the brightly lit hallway of the ship, Ana leaned heavily against the wall and took a deep breath. She didn’t have the time or the luxury to let herself dwell on what Khan and just imparted to her. He was attempting to get inside her head, and if Ana was being honest with her self, he was succeeding. She needed to push it to the back of her mind and turn her thoughts back to the situation at hand, which was getting the blasted ship back in working order and taking Khan back to Earth and locked up. Ana sighed. Marcus was not going to be happy with her about not following orders and eliminating Khan back on Kronos, and with less than pleasant thoughts about what her punishment would be once she got back planet-side, she made her way towards the med-bay to search out Dr. Marcus. Ana wished to discuss in more detail who and what exactly she thought Khan and his “crew” were.

* * *

  
Khan glared after the two incompetent Starfleet officers as they ran out of the brig and towards the bridge. These people were lauded to be some of the best and brightest in the galaxy, and yet they couldn’t even recognize the wolf within their very own fold. A wolf by the name of Alexander Marcus. Khan was suddenly roused from his thoughts as five, very large Starfleet security officers dressed in red approached his cell. Khan gazed at them, unblinkingly, as one broke away from the group and approached the control panel on the outside of his cell and entered the access code. The glass wall of Khan’s prison disappeared and a moment later, he was surrounded by the security officers and led out of the brig and towards, what he assumed, was the med-bay. As he was being led through the brightly lit corridors of the Enterprise, Khan couldn't stop his thoughts from turning once more to Rhiana Sullivan, the perplexing half-Romulan Starfleet captain who both perplexed, enraged, and impressed him with her strength and her unflinching loyalty to an organization such as Starfleet. Even when faced with the truth about her parent’s fate at the command of Admiral Marcus, Captain Sullivan still held strong to her beliefs. Which, Khan reflected, would have been an admirable quality, if it wasn’t so foolish. Khan was so uncharacteristically lost in his thoughts pertaining to his grudging admiration for Captain Sullivan, that he did not notice that he and his “entourage” had reached the double doors of the med-bay, which promptly swished open, revealing the subject of Khan’s previous and highly distracting reflexions.  
“What the hell is he doing here?” Captain Sullivan questioned from her position next to the doctor who had taken his blood earlier.  
“I could ask you the same question, Captain.” Khan responded, as he was led to a nearby bio-bed and forced to take a seat. “Shouldn’t you be on the bridge with your comrades? It sounded as if they were having trouble.”  
“Kirk suggested I take a break and calm down, so that’s exactly what I’m doing.” She stated as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him across the med-bay, whose other occupants had stopped what they were previously doing to silently observe the conversation with great interest. “Not that it’s any of your bloody business, Khan.” She paused for a moment. “Or is it Harrison? One could not help but be confused when lies surround you like a moat around a castle.” Khan observed her silently for a moment as she glared at him in return, and he was reminded of the thoughts he had of her as he was being led to the med bay not five minutes ago. Looking at her now, standing straight-backed and confident before him, her eyes alight and cheeks flushed slightly green with anger, Khan could not help but to view her as more than a respectable and admirable adversary, but as a beautiful and, if Khan was being completely honest with himself, a decidedly desirable woman. In fact, if circumstances were different, Khan would have enjoyed making Rhiana Sullivan his next conquest…but sadly, circumstances were not different.   
“Perhaps you should take Kirk’s advice, Captain, and calm yourself.” Khan finally responded, following his brief moment of reflection. “You’re letting your anger get the better of you.” Ana took an angry step towards him and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the screens in the med bay filled with the disgruntled image of none other than Admiral Alexander Marcus’. All thoughts of Rhiana Sullivan fled as Khan’s body went rigid with hatred while the other occupants of the med bay turned their attention to the various view screens and began watching the exchange between Kirk and Marcus with great interest. Captain Sullivan immediately noticed his reaction to Marcus’ image and eyed him suspiciously before turning to watch the confrontation herself, a confrontation which was getting rather heated at that point.  
“Is there something I can help you find, sir?” Kirk questioned.  
“Where is your prisoner, Kirk?” Marcus countered, causing Khan to grit his teeth in annoyance. Prisoner, indeed. He was here because her chose to be, in order to protect his people and to seek revenge on the bastard who put them in danger in the first place.

“Per Starfleet regulation, I’m planning on returning Khan to Earth to stand trial.” Kirk responded. There was a brief, but heated silence before Marcus spoke once again.  
“Well, shit.” He muttered as he rubbed his brow irritably. “You talked to him.” It was a statement, not a question. “This was exactly what I was hoping to spare to you from. I took a tactical risk when I woke that bastard up, believing that his superior intelligence could help us protect ourselves from whatever came at us next.” Marcus leaned forward. “But I made a mistake. And now the blood of everybody he’s killed is on my hands.” He stated, not an ounce of feeling behind his words. “So I’m asking you, give him to me so that I can end what I started.” Kirk stared at him intently for a moment before sighing.  
“And what exactly would you like me to do with the rest of his crew, sir?” He queried? “Fire them at the Klingons?” End seventy two lives?” He shook his head. “Start a war in the process?”  
“He put those people in those torpedoes.” Marcus shot back, voice raised. “And I simply didn't want to burden you with knowing what was inside of them. You saw what this man can so all by himself. Can you imagine what would happen if we woke up the rest of his crew?” Khan continued to stare straight ahead, back rigid and face impassive, but on the inside he was raging. He would die before Marcus came within a foot of any member of his crew. Khan was so lost in his own anger that he did not notice that Kirk was speaking once more.  
“He’s in engineering, sir.” Kirk stated. “But I’ll have him moved to the transporter room right away.”  
“I’ll take it from here.” Marcus said before he ended the transmission and all the screens in the med bay went black momentarily before switching back to their normal functions. Khan couldn't keep the small and momentary smile from his face. Kirk had taken pity on him and now he was willing to protect him from Marcus, not that he needed that oaf of a man’s protection, but he would need Kirk’s help if he wanted to get onto Marcus’ ship…which he intended on doing as soon as possible.

* * *

  
Ana glared at Khan across the med bay, eyes narrowing when she noticed a brief smile flit across his face following the termination of Jim’s altercation with Marcus. What was that bastard up to? Her thoughts were interrupted when the ship suddenly sprang into warp. She sighed.   
“Nice job, Jim.” She muttered sarcastically. Now every crew member on that ship would be considered a traitor to the Federation. Defying the orders of a Starfleet admiral wasn’t exactly the best idea…she would know.  
“Well, at least we’re moving again.” Ana heard Bones state as he began scanning Khan with a tricorder.   
“If you think you're safe at warp,” Khan murmured, “you’re wrong.” Ana immediately felt a sense of dread at his words. Apparently she wasn’t the only one…  
“Carol, what is it?” Ana questioned after noticing the strained expression of the weapon’s specialist’s face.  
“Something’s not right.” The blond responded cryptically before bolting out of the med bay. Ana immediately bolted after her and followed her through the winding corridors of the Enterprise and towards what Ana assumed was the bridge.  
“Carol!” Ana half-yelled from behind the surprisingly nimble doctor. “What the bloody hell is the matter?”  
“My father’s ship.” She shouted breathlessly over her shoulder. “It’s not what it seems!”   
“Not helpful!” Ana shot back as they reached the doors to the bridge, which promptly slid open.   
“Permission to come of the bridge?” Carol inquired, slightly winded.  
“Dr. Marcus.” Kirk replied, a confused expression on his face which intensified when he spied Ana standing behind her. “Captain Sullivan?”  
“He gonna catch up with us,” Carol began speaking immediately and at a rather accelerated speed, “and when he does, the only thing that’s gonna stop him destroying this ship is me, so you have to let me talk to him.”  
“Carol, we’re at warp.” Kirk responded. “He can’t catch up with us.”  
“Yes, he can.” Carol countered, without skipping a beat. “He’s been developing a ship that has advanced warp capabilities…” But she was suddenly interrupted by a very distraught Sulu.  
“Captain! I’m getting a reading I don’t understand.” The pilot stated, brows furrowed. Not a moment later, the ship lurched dangerously as they were fired upon. Ana grabbed onto a nearby railing before she was thrown across the bridge, but could not prevent begin knocked of her feet, her head hitting the brightly polished floor with a painful crack. She winced as she assessed her surroundings and noticed that much of the bridge crew were in worse shape than her. The ship gave another jarring lurch before dropping out of warp and coming to a dead stop.  
“Where are we?” Kirk immediately inquired.  
“We’re 237,000 kilometers from Earth.” Sulu responded before Jim demanded a full damage report of the ship. A moment later, the attack continued and the bridge was again filled with flashes of red and orange light and the view screen displayed the image of the giant starship that Ana assumed was Marcus’. Kirk was in the midst of shouting more orders when Carol interrupted him once more.  
“Captain, stop!” She shouted. “Everyone on this ship is going to die if you don’t let me speak to him.” Kirk stared at her intently, breath coming in huffs, before turning to address his communications officer.  
“Uhura, hail him.” Kirk ordered. Carol turned to face the screen and began speaking.  
“Sir, It’s me.” She stated. “It’s Carol.” The phaser shots ceased before the confused and angry visage of Admiral Marcus filled the view screen seconds later. His expression grew almost murderous, though, when he spotted Ana standing next to Jim. Apparently he hadn’t expected to see her on the Enterprise…or alive, for that matter. Maybe Khan was right about him, Ana thought grudgingly before Marcus finally spoke.  
“What the hell are you doing on that ship?” He questioned, voice rough with anger and disbelief. Whether the inquiry was aimed at his daughter or at Ana was unclear, but Carol was the one to respond regardless.  
“I heard what you said.” Carol began, stepping closer to the view screen. “That you made a mistake and now you're doing everything you can to fix it.” She paused, her face softening with emotion. “But, Dad, I-I don't believe that the man who raised me is capable of destroying a ship full of innocent people. And, if I’m wrong about that, you're going to have to do it with me on board.” She raised her chin in defiance as she finished her statement.   
“Actually, Carol, I won’t.” He declared, and not a moment later, Carol was enveloped by the swirling lights of a transporter beam.  
“Can we intercept the transporter signal?” Kirk questioned?  
“No, sir.” A crewman responded. A heartbeat later, Carol disappeared from the bridge with a scream. Ana and Jim shared a sideways glance before Marcus spoke up once more.  
“Captain Kirk, without authorization and in league with the fugitive John Harrison, you went rogue in enemy territory, leaving me no choice but to hunt you down and destroy you.” He sat back in his captain;s chair before giving the order: “Lock phasers.”  
“Have you lost your mind?” Ana exclaimed as she approached the view screen, an expression of horror on her face. “Do you honestly intend on killing all of us in cold blood? You're the bloody head of Starfleet, not a mass murderer!” Marcus glared at her intently for a moment before speaking.  
“You know what, Sullivan?” He said, a considerate expression replacing his glare. “You’re absolutely right.” He agreed. “I can’t kill all of you. After all,” he leaned forward in his chair and stared directly at Ana, “I’m not finished with you yet.” Seconds later, Ana was surrounded by bright, swirling lights and then everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

The last thing Ana remembered seeing was Jim’s horror stricken face before she was enveloped by golden rings. The next thing she knew, she had four phasers pointed at her head as she materialized on a dark, and not entirely welcoming transporter pad. She quickly dismissed the brutes with the phasers and sought out the familiar visage of Dr. Marcus, who was being retrained by two burly looking security officers.  
“Are you alright, Carol?” Ana questioned as she moved to step off the transporter pad. But before she could take more than a step, one of the security officers fired two quick shots at her stomach in an attempt to stun her. Due to her half-Romulan physiology, what would have knocked a person twice her size unconscious only worked to stall her forward momentum— and thoroughly piss her off. The dumbfounded security officer looked at his phaser in confusion for a moment before looking back at her.   
“Assaulting an officer is grounds for court martial, you know.” She slowly put her hands up and stood quietly for a moment, when the security goons made no move to restrain her, she rolled her eyes. “You better restrain me before I change my mind and drop all of you—Plus I imagine the good admiral doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” The men immediately moved towards her and forced he arms in front of her and into a pair of heavy metal cuffs, not unlike the ones she herself had placed on Harrison—or rather Khan—only hours earlier. She couldn't help but smirk at the irony of it.   
A moment later found her and Carol being led down a dimly lit hallway towards, what Ana assumed, was the bridge. Carol, who was uncured and being led by two men in front of her, turned her head slightly and spoke,  
“Are you alright, Captain?” She questioned shakily. Ana smiled softly at her concern.  
“I’m fine, Doctor. I’m a bit more resilient than I look.” She replied, sotto voce.  
“I’m so sorry about all of this.” Carol whispered. “I knew my father wasn't exactly a good man, but I had no idea—” she trailed off.  
“You don’t have to apologize for him, Carol.” Ana insisted. “You had no way of knowing that your father was a—” but she was cut off before she could complete her statement by a rough tug to the back of her uniform and a swift punch to her stomach. Ana grunted and stumbled slightly, but otherwise didn't react to the blow.   
“I’m beginning to like you gentlemen less and less with each passing moment.” She mumbled as she straightened her spine and resumed her previous pace down the corridor.   
A few more minutes passed, and Ana was just about to risk another bout of manhandling in order to ask how much farther the bridge was, when they rounded a corner and were faced with a set of double doors which promptly slid open with a soft hiss, revealing the darkly lit bridge. The goons’ grips on her arms tightened as she was practically dragged across the bridge and towards a figure standing over a control console, his back facing her. Ana could tell just by the set of his shoulders who it was. At the sound of their approach, Admiral Marcus turned to face them. Carol ripped her arms from the grasp of her guards and stormed towards her father. Marcus took one look at his daughter before calmly stating,  
“I’ll deal with you later.” His calm expression was wiped of his face a moment later with an abrupt, yet heartfelt, slap from his infuriated daughter. Ana just barely suppressed a snort at the sight of the bright red handprint quickly spreading across the admiral’s face.  
“I am ashamed to be your daughter.” Carol stated with a surprising amount of conviction, before being dragged away from her father and towards an empty ensign’s chair on the opposite side of the bridge. Marcus then turned his gaze on her.   
"So much for following orders, Sullivan." Marcus commented glibly. "You were supposed to kill him, not offer to fly him home first class."  
"And how the hell was I supposed to explain that to Kirk? 'oh and by the way Jimmy boy, Admiral Marcus, the head of Starfleet command, ordered me into hostile territory to assassinate a man in cold blood, oh and did I mention he used blackmail to convince me? What a great example of Starfleet honor and integrity.' That would have gone over swimmingly." Her anger caused her words to flow freely, which Ana would regret a moment later when her head flew to the side from a stinging slap delivered by a fury-eyed Marcus.  
"That will be quite enough from you, Sullivan. You've already made a shambles of this god damned operation and I'm tired of your lip."   
"Perhaps you should have had one of your brainwashed cronies go after Khan then, and not someone like me with some semblance of honor and duty." She shot back, her cheek turning a bright shade of green from the physical manifestation of Marcus' anger. He opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by on of the numerous bridge crew.  
"Sir, we just had a hanger door open on deck 13." The man stated. Marcus scowled.  
"Khan." He spat out his name like a curse. Ana could honestly say she'd never been so happy to hear that madman's name and couldn't keep the slight smirk from her face. "I wouldn't look so damned pleases if I were you. If you think you're getting off this ship alive, you're sadly mistaken. Don't think for a minute that I'd let you get away with botching a mission like the one I gave you. You're damn lucky I don't have the time to make you regret your disloyalty because I can assure you--I would greatly enjoy it." He nodded at someone behind her and a moment later, Ana was seized by two burly security members and practically dragged across the bridge. Ana briefly caught Carol's grief stricken and helpless gaze before the bridge doors slid shut behind her and her captors. They dragged her down the dimly lit hallways of the massive starship until they reached one of the numerous doors leading to a docking bay. They proceeded to push her inside and towards the airlock on the other side of the mostly empty bay.   
"Admiral want's it to be quick. No mess. No body." One of the goons stated as he removed his phaser from his belt. Marvelous, Ana thought, they're going to kill me and fling my body into space. Not exactly how I expected to go. Ana scowled. She was not going out like this. She stalked the movements of the two men as they took a few steps back and adjusted their phasers to the kill setting and Ana lowered her head in what she hoped was a sign of resignation. They aimed their phasers at her.   
"Do you think it wise to kill a Starfleet captain without any just cause?" She said, her head still bowed. Their was a moment of silence before one of the goons spoke.  
"This is by direct order from the admiral. We have nothing to fear from Starfleet command." He stated confidently.  
"Who said anything about fearing Starfleet command." And then she was moving. Ana reached the first man before he could even react and snapped his neck, killing him instantly. She then lifted his body and turned it just in time to absorb the phaser blast fired by the other stammering security officer. She took advantage of the mans brief confusion and charged him, ripping the phaser out of his hand and breaking his wrist in the process. She than grabbed him by the neck and slammed him to the floor before picking up the fallen phaser and, without hesitation, shooting him square in the chest. Ana took a few moments to compose herself before rising to her feet. She looked at the phaser in her hand for a moment before setting it back to extreme stun and making her way back to the bay doors. Once through the doors, she turned back to the access panel and opened the airlock. hopefully that would throw Marcus of an convince, at least for the time being, that she was dead as he had intended. Now Ana was faced with what to do next. After a brief moment of contemplation, she decided to head back to the bridge and rescue Carol, and maybe even take care of Marcus in the process.

* * *

  
Kirk and Khan landed in hanger bay 13 with a painful thud. Khan immediately rolled to his feet and scanned the area for potential threats, his gaze resting briefly on Scotty and Connor, the latter of whom stared at him intently in return before moving his gaze to Kirk. Introductions were made, albeit briefly, and the four men were on the move. Khan led them with ease through the dimly lit labyrinth of hallways, only stopping for a moment to check a nearby computer regarding the status of Scotty's temporary weapons malfunction and to fight off a few stray guards. They were just rounding the corner of another hallway when they came face to face with a phaser--wielded by a stern faced Ana Sullivan. Her expression morphed into one of relief when she realized who she had just run into.  
"Jim, thank God." She sighed, phaser still raised. She trained said phaser a moment later on the figure standing next the Jim, her look of relief turning to suspicion. "What the bloody hell is he doing here?"   
"He's the only one who knows this ship. We need him." Jim stated. Ana glared at Khan for a moment longer before grudgingly lowering her phaser.   
"If he kills us all, I'll kick your ass, Jim." She stated.  
"Noted. Now we should probably get a move on before we're spotted." Kirk said as he nodded to Khan and the two men moved past Ana and continued down the hall, the latter leading the way, phaser raised in preparation.  
"I agree with the captain." Scotty murmured as he moved past her as well.  
"I second that." A familiar voice stated from behind the Enterprise's chief engineer.  
"Connor?" Ana's head immediately turned towards the commander in question. "How did you get here?" She questioned as she moved to grasp his arm in affection.   
"Tagged along with Mr. Scott here." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "We went on a little scavenger hunt."   
"And found this bloody monstrosity behind Jupiter." Scotty chimed in. "Now that we've said our hellos, could we be off?" Connor gave Ana a quick smile and a wink before following Scotty the rest of their group down the hall. Ana did a quick scan of the hallway behind them before following her comrades.  
"I'm assuming you were heading to the bridge when we so surreptitiously ran into each other." Ana stated, her voice high enough for them to hear her, yet soft enough to remain mostly undetected.  
"Ship wide control has been transferred to the bridge." Khan replied knowingly. "If we wish to stop Marcus from destroying your ship when his weapons systems go back online, we must do so from there."  
"He also has Carol on the bridge with him." Ana added.  
"Marcus' daughter is of little interest to me." Khan spat.  
"Well, bloody good thing nobody asked you." Ana retorted.   
Khan paused in the long corridor to give Ana a direct cold look. "As long as Marcus is holding my family from me I feel no urge to consider his. We must move quickly." While Ana stood frozen by the ferocity of that stare, Khan quickly turned and continued down the hallway. "Come. It's this way."  
“Alright then, Mr. Tall, Dark and Genetically Modified,” Ana chimed in a moment later, “After you storm the bridge, what is it you plan on doing next?” Khan’s stopped in his tracks, his stance growing stiff and predatory.   
“I will destroy the man who dared to take my family from me.”  
“Well at least he has a plan.” Scotty remarked. Jim and Ana turned to stare at the engineer. “More than we can say about ourselves.” He shrugged before the three of them turned to look at the man in question once more, but he was already halfway to the double doors at the end of the hallway.  
“Are you with me or not.” He murmured darkly, his voice reverberating eerily back to them.  
“Fucking hell.” Ana muttered. “We’re going to regret this, I can feel it.” She lifted her phaser and stalked towards Khan, her three compatriots following in her wake. She reached Khan first, and he took their brief moment alone to step closer to her and place his lips next to her ear. “Fight like you fought me on Kronos. Let them see what you really are.” And then he was gone from her side, typing furiously at the keypad next to the doors, which slid open a moment later. After they entered the bridge, the following events were a bit of a blur for Ana. He and Khan managed to take out most of the bridge crew and by the time she came back down from the high of combat, Marcus was sitting in the captain’s chair in the middle of a lecture, four phasers pointed at his head and Khan was lying prostrate on the floor at Scotty’s feet. Despite their current situation, Ana couldn’t seem to take her eyes of Khan’s unconscious face—until Marcus directed his lecture at her.  
“I see your still breathing, Sullivan.” He scoffed.  
“I’m like a bad penny.” Ana retorted. “I just keep coming back.”  
“I should have killed you myself.”   
“To late for that, Alex.” She responded before she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Before she had time to even reacted, Khan was on his feet. He knocked Scotty out cold before lunging at Kirk. Ana fired a round of stun shots at him, but they barely slowed him down. Before she knew it, Khan had Jim by the throat. She lunged towards them, intending to distract Khan long enough for Jim to escape his grasp, but she was suddenly restrained from behind by an arm around her waist and a phaser pressed to her temple.  
“Not so fast, Ana.” A voice ghosted in her ear. “Everything is how it should be.” Ana’s eyes widened at the darkness tinting the once familiar voice.   
“Connor?” She whispered, horrified. “What the hell are you doing?”  
“Saving my family.” She saw him out of the corner of her eye turn his gaze to Khan. “And serving my prince.” Her eyes widened at the realization of what he was saying and she began to struggle against his iron grip in earnest.  
“I trusted you, you bastard!” She seethed. He chuckled darkly in her ear.  
“Mistake.” He whispered before he brought the phaser down on the back of her neck, plunging her into darkness.


End file.
